Am still struggling with this! To recap the evidence I have is:
4/2/1823 Jacob Derrick (minor) marries Bridget Carpenter Blagdon Somerset
1841:(HO107; Piece: 956; Book: 7; ED: 8; Folio: 26; Page: 3) Jacob Derrick b.c. 1806 in Somerset with his family including Sarah Derrick b.c. 1811 and one year old William for whom GRO says mmn Carpenter. An 1811 birth for Sarah Derrick makes her a bit young to be mother to the older Derrick children and besides gro states mmn of all recorded children to be Carpenter
1851: (HO107; Piece: 1946; Folio: 514; Page: 1) Jacob Derrick with wife Sarah and some children
15/7/1858 Jacob Derrick wdr marries Sarah Offer widw née Crane Portishead
1851: (HO107: Piece : 1946; Folio:529; Page11) Sarah Offer née Crane b.c. 1805 living Portishead family includes daughter Louisa Offer
Q3 1846 William Offer, husband of Sarah Offer née Crane dies
1841: (HO107 Piece 956 Folio 8 Page
Sarah Offer b.c. 1803 living with husband William and newborn daughter Lousia.**
Louisa Offer is important as although the daughter of William and Sarah Offer she appears as stepdaughter to Jacob Derrick in 1861, tying in with her mother's marriage to Jacob in 1858.
In summary, Bridget Carpenter marries Jacob Derrick in 1823 and they continue to have children up to 1844 but it is not Bridget living with Jacob on the 1841 census.
Sarah Crane marries William Offer in Bristol, Glos on 31/7/1825 and has children with him until his death in 1846. They are together in the 1841 census and she is alone and a widow in the 1851 census.
So my questions are these:
Who is the Sarah with Jacob Derrick in 1841 & 1851 who presumably had maiden name Carpenter? She appears to be about 10 years older than Bridget.
Was Bridget known as Sarah? but what about the age discrepancy
When and where did Bridget die? perhaps before registration began in 1837 and did Jacob then hook up with a Sarah Carpenter prior to marrying Sarah Offer née Crane in 1858.
If anybody can help in answering these questions I would be most grateful. I feel as if the answers are there if only I could discern the wood from the trees!
Thanks, Pheno
** The 1841 for Sarah Offer is Folio 8 Page 8 but it seems to be converting the second 8 into a symbol for some reason!